Desert

At some point in our lives, we will find ourselves in the desert. A place of heat and barrenness. We’re talking about the Mojave or Sahara in July, not Palm Springs.

The word desert is the Hebrew word “midbar” which comes from the root word “dabar” meaning “to speak.”

The Lord speaks to us in those desert places. It’s where everything we rely upon for comfort is stripped from us. Things we thought we needed but realized we didn’t. Things that may have kept us from hearing God speak.

Deserts aren’t comfortable. But deserts can be very educational. Not all of our deserts are the same. For some, it might look like caring for a loved one for a long time. For others, it might be dealing with an extended illness. Or perhaps financial challenge. Or a season of no writing productivity. Maybe a season of depression. A divorce, death of a spouse, a season of one rejection after another where you can’t seem to win for losing. Maybe moving to an area where you don’t know anyone.

Deuteronomy 32:10-12

Where is God when we find ourselves in a desert? Initially, we feel alone, forgotten, and vulnerable.

What if we placed our own names there in verse 10?

God does 4 things when He places us in a desert:

1. He surrounds us

2. He watches over us

3. He guards us (like the pupil of His eye)

4. He guides us (He alone)

Moses was a man acquainted with the desert. Interesting that the Lord put Moses in a desert for 40 years before putting him in another desert as the leader of God’s people where they wandered for 40 years.

Deuteronomy 8:2-5 - We learn what we’re truly made of in the desert. The Lord doesn’t place us in the desert to ruin us. He does it to refine us.

Moses went from being advanced in hieroglyphics and Egyptian sciences, one of Pharaoh’s elect to tending sheep in an obscure part of the desert. Talk about humility 101!

Each of our deserts will look a little different but serve the same purpose of humbling & refining us to be more effective Kingdom writers.

Resources:

If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.

1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day

Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing.

Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.

2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes

If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book.

Get started now for just $27

3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy

Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book.

Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST)

Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.

Join Me for a Free Live Training! Add it to your calendar here: https://www.addevent.com/event/LP24300245

📆 Tuesday, January 7th at 1 pm Eastern (10 am Pacific, 11 am Mountain, noon central)

Topic: “Beyond the Book: How to Build Bridges and Spark a Ripple Effect With Your Message”

In this live training, you’ll learn about:

✅ The Mosaic: How your book is the first piece of a bigger picture God is creating through you.
✅ The Ripple Effect Plan: How even one simple step can amplify your book’s reach and bless more lives.
✅ 3 Simple Steps to Create offers that naturally guide readers back to your book.

### Why Show Up Live?

✨ You’ll leave with a clear, actionable Ripple Effect Plan for your book—a simple blueprint to multiply your message without feeling overwhelmed.

✨ Live Q&A: Get your questions answered in real-time so you can confidently take the next step.

✨ Clarity and Confidence: You’ll finally see how to expand your impact while honoring the message God has entrusted to you—without overcomplicating it.

God gave you this message for a reason. This training will help you take the next faithful step to serve your readers and unlock the greater story He’s still writing.

**

📆 Save the Date and Add It to Your Calendar Now: https://www.addevent.com/event/LP24300245

If you can't make it live the replay will be posted here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_MxZkAom1Yk_s-6_cSYFLndXZpQqn3xwxwAwar6M-Zg/edit?tab=t.0

This year marks 20 years since I began my online business journey, and what a journey it has been! It’s been filled with both challenges and blessings, but through it all, God has taught me so much. As I reflect on the last two decades, I want to share 20 lessons I’ve learned along the way.

To celebrate this milestone, we're giving away our Kingdom Writers book for free from December 17–19, 2024. You can download your copy here.

Stuck

Psalm 40:1-3

Are you familiar with the word “mire”? A mire is an area of wet, spongy earth like a bog or marsh.

Have you ever been on a piece of land after the snow has melted or after a tremendous downpour of rain that leaves the land extremely muddy? Perhaps you’ve been on a trail where the mud cakes on the bottom of your shoes with every step and becomes heavy.

Our lives can sometimes feel like this where we get stuck or each step forward becomes heavier and heavier.

What did David do when he was stuck in the miry clay? How did he climb out of his slimy pit of despair? He waited upon the Lord. Waiting is difficult for us because we’re impatient. So we try with all of our own effort to climb out of the mud.

Like with David, God will hear our cries for help and will pull us out of that deep despair. We go from stuck to steady as He places us on firm, solid footing. This is God’s grace in our lives.

God is able to birth new words in our lives to share with the world. These words can be a “volume of praise to our God.”

Perhaps many will be amazed and put their trust in the Lord as we have.

Resources:

If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.

1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day

Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing.

Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.

2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes

If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book.

Get started now for just $27

3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy

Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book.

Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST)

Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.

Shoring up Weaknesses

“Shoring” is the process of temporarily supporting a building, vessel, structure, or trench with shores (props) when in danger of collapse or during repairs or alterations. Shoring comes from shore, a timber or metal prop. Shoring may be vertical, angled, or horizontal.

5 Lessons we can take from 2 Chronicles 32:1-8

1. Consult with trusted advisors - friends, pastors, counselors, fellow Kingdom writers - for wisdom and understanding moving forward. King Hezekiah showed humility by asking for help.

2. Cut off anything that might fuel or refresh our enemy and allow him to prolong his attack. Sin is an obvious thing to cut off. Perhaps we also need to consider cutting off toxic people in our lives. Cut off the flow of toxic news or other social media that the enemy might utilize to create anxiety.

3. Healing of the broken places in our lives. Shoring up those weaknesses to prevent the enemy from constantly zeroing in on those vulnerable areas. Perhaps forming a small prayer team could be a form of constructing a “second wall” outside the first.

4. Manufacturing large numbers of weapons and shields could represent reading, meditating, and memorizing God’s Word daily. Listening to godly teachings that help sharpen us.

5. Reminding ourselves and others that we have a power far greater on our side. (2 Kings 6:15-17) Notice that Hezekiah was proactive in doing the things he could while also looking to the Lord for ultimate protection over his enemies.

Resources:

If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.

1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day

Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing.

Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.

2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes

If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book.

Get started now for just $27

3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy

Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book.

Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST)

Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.

Hearing from Headquarters

Whether it’s in the military or a strategic undercover operation, hearing from headquarters is crucial in order to carry out important plans.

How much more do we as Kingdom writers need to hear God’s plans from headquarters?

We must be willing to set aside time each day to soak in God’s Word. Why would we need this important time? In order to get to know the God of that Word. As we do so, we become intimately acquainted with the character and ways that God might be leading us. When we get to know someone so well, we can almost finish their sentences. This is the idea we’re looking at in getting to know God well.

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” - John 10:27 NLT

“Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.” - Proverbs 2:2-4 NLT

We tune our ears to the Lord like we might finely tune in a radio station and eliminate static.

If you received news that somewhere in your backyard was buried a precious gem worth 5 million dollars, you would turn over every square inch of your property in search of that gem. How much more valuable is God’s wisdom and direction for our lives, our writing, and the eternal nature of His plans?

Nothing could be more important for us than hearing from headquarters and seeking the Lord fervently.

Resources:

If you're ready to take a step of faith and finally finish your book we have a few ways we can help you.

1. Free Writing Week Challenge: Create a Writing Habit in 15-Minutes a Day

Even if you feel overwhelmed or stuck in procrastination, sitting down to write for just 15 minutes a day is the best way to finally reach your writing goals. Most writers think they need hours of uninterrupted time to make progress in their writing. However, in this free challenge, we will show you how much you can accomplish in just 15 minutes of focused writing.

Click here to create a consistent writing habit this week.

2. Book Writing Lab Workshop - Map Out Your Book in Just 90 Minutes

If over the last year, you've struggled to get your book written, this workshop is for you. Choose your book topic, write an outline, and create a writing plan in just 90-minutes! Finally, feel confident that you will actually finish your book.

Get started now for just $27

3. Want More Support? Join Christian Book Academy

Most writers stay stuck and never finish their first draft. Inside Christian Book Academy, we help you partner with God to write your book so you can become a published author. Finally, ditch your self-doubt and take a step of faith so you can finish your book.

Join Christian Book Academy (coupon code PODCAST)

Get 50% off your first month by using the coupon code PODCAST at checkout.

Recovering What We Have Lost as Writers

2 Kings 6:1-7

In this little story tucked away in the Old Testament, we see several nuggets we can apply to our lives and our writing. Like the young prophet in the story, we may find ourselves losing our “cutting edge” and feeling powerless.

This group of prophets were building a new meeting place and insisted that their leader, Elisha, accompany them down to the Jordan River where they would cut down trees for the new facility. They were busy doing good work until one of them lost his ax head which sank to the bottom of the Jordan.

At times, we can also be busy doing good work until we lose our cutting edge. In our case, we can refer to the power of God as our cutting edge. It’s the ability to get the job done most efficiently rather than relying on our own strength. Imagine trying to cut down a tree with only a wooden ax handle. It would be like our flesh trying to cut into the spiritual realm which is something bigger and more powerful than what we possess without the power of God.

As Kingdom Writers, we need the ax head of the Spirit to accomplish writing that makes a dent and that’s able to cut right to the heart of the matter in someone’s life.

Listen to this episode as CJ shares 4 steps to recover our cutting edge based on this Old Testament story.

The Power of Having a Weekly Business Meeting with God

Learn the simple steps you can take to implement a weekly business meeting with God. This is one of the most important actions you can take as a Christian writer to ask God for the strategies to write, publish, and market your books successfully.

Get access to the video and PDF download now here.